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What Is the Point of Congress?
Seems our neighbors in the northeast have grown over-weary of the current White House regime treating the Constitution and the laws enacted by The People's representatives like an optional menu.
Petitioners in Brattleboro gathered enough signatures (5 percent of the electorate) to put a question on their upcoming town ballot that calls for Bush and Cheney to be arrested "for crimes against our Constitution."
Predictably, Bush loyalists and assorted Drudge Report readers across the nation are none to pleased - even though the Vermont measure, which will be voted on March 4, is about as symbolic as they come.
News of the ballot question circulated through cyberspace. A storm of neo-complaints followed, hitting Brattleboro like a wicked Nor'eastah.
"In e-mail messages, voicemail messages and telephone calls (to Brattleboro officials), outraged people are calling the measure the equivalent of treason and vowing never to visit Vermont" the Associated Press reported.
One caller asked: "Has everyone up there been out in the cold too long?" Another said: "I would like to know how I could get some water from your town. It's obvious that there is something special in it."
Others, like Brent Caflisch of Rosemount, Minn., sent an e-mail message that was a bit less circumspect. Oh ya. "Maybe the terrorists will do us all a favor and attack your town next, our country would be much safer with several thousand dead wackjobs in Vermont," according to the AP account.
That's what they're calling defenders of the Constitution these days - "wackjobs," like Paul Craig Roberts.
Though he's not a Brattleboro resident, Roberts is one of millions of Americans bitten by the same impeachment bug buzzing around Brattleboro. He also happens to be the former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during the Reagan administration, former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page, contributing editor of National Review and author of the book "The Tyranny of Good Intentions."
Roberts breaks it down like this: "In truth, Congress gave up its law-making powers to the executive branch during the New Deal. For three-quarters of a century, the bills passed by Congress have been authorizations for executive branch agencies to make laws in the form of regulations. The executive branch has come to the realization that it doesn't really need Congress. President Bush appends his own 'signing statements' to the authorizations from Congress in which the President says what the legislation means. So what is the point of Congress?"
In case you're wondering, a "signing statement" is a presidential footnote attached to a law passed by Congress. It instructs the executive branch on how to interpret the law, essentially giving the president line-item veto power to cherry-pick provisions of law to be followed or ignored, turning the idea of checks-and-balances into a joke.
Historically, signing statements have been used, on rare occasion, by Republican and Democrat administrations going back to the days of James Monroe and Andrew Jackson. But since Reagan, signing statements have been used with increasing frequency. According to the Law Library of Congress, No. 43 has issued over 700!
Ironically, perhaps, it was candidate Clinton's husband, and now fierce campaigner, whose promiscuous use of signing statements was checked by the Supreme Court in the 1998 case Clinton vs. City of New York, declaring line item vetoes unconstitutional.
Now, with everyone focused on the primaries, Bush gives us another example in signing the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act last week, attaching a signing statement even after having rejected Congress' first version because it would have supposedly made the Iraqi government vulnerable to "expensive lawsuits."
Congressional Quarterly reported on the provisions Bush intends to ignore: "One such provision sets up a commission to probe contracting fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another expands protections for whistleblowers who work for government contractors. A third requires that U.S. intelligence agencies promptly respond to congressional requests for documents. And a fourth bars funding for permanent bases in Iraq and for any action that exercises U.S. control over Iraq's oil money." For more, see here.
Bush may be a lame-duck but don't sleep. If Congress doesn't grow a Brattleboro-like backbone and impeach this administration before they leave office the precedent will be set and the Constitutional question of the future will be the one Roberts is asking: what is the point of Congress?
Sean Gonsalves is a syndicated columnist and assistant news editor at the Cape Cod Times. He can be reached at sgonsalves@capecodonline.com
40 Comments so far
Show AllHere's a good question ..
WHERE ARE THE LAWYERS?
Sworn to uphold the Constitution?
Where is the Attorney General of the State of Vermont on this, sworn to uphold the Constitution.
Paul Craig Roberts may be correct on many things, but truth do tell - he should be organizing the lawyers and getting them ON BOARD to read the riot act on those who would not uphold the rule of law in Vermont and ceasing these kinds of articles.
The biggest problem we have seen in this LAW BREAKING ADMINISTRATION is a lack of lawyer support for the impeachment process.
That must and should be remedied as this momentum for impeachment keeps building.
www.wexlerwantshearings.com
Vermont activists were PUSHED into this unfortunate situation and they deserve support. I tried to post to the Battleboro newspaper site with support and my comments were NOT taken. Tells you something. Just maybe?
Life in America should not be "just" about the Almighty Dollar, it must be about commitment to values!! Let's see the high buck people who say they "care" about American core values support the Battleboro activists instead of shooting off their mouths ... just his once!!
Are they not footsoldiers to the executive footsoldier?
you what would be great. if the next president abused the power of the office exactly the way Bush has only to the extreme left. signing statements and executive orders declaring Bush a war criminal, eliminating the patriot act, and so on.
Everyone should send a copy of this article to Pelosi, et al.
Interesting theoretical construct.
But the purpose of Congress is to tax the many and redistribute that wealth to the few while lining their own career pockets by engaging in both class and global warfare.
I don't think we need to over-state the protestations of the pro-Bush minority. What's Bush's ratings? Cheney's?
For every zealot that complained to Vermont, there's 3-5 as many supporters across the country.
In any case, the point of Congress is to strengthen the Executive, and give us reasons why they can't do what the people want.
Nice job, Sean, as always. Keep it up.
The point of the Congress, I'd opine, is similar to the point of the curtain near the end of The Wizard of Oz.
The point of Congress is to give the illusion of Democracy of course.
Go Vermont! Washington State is also working on Impeachment
TOLL-FREE # TO CALL WA STATE SENATORS ON PLAN B IMPEACHMENT
http://peacecandidates.com/blog/gordonkoba/02/03/toll-free_to_call_wa_state_sen
It's seems the main purpose of our congress is to feather their own nest's. They have ceased to even give lip service to the public. Corptocracy, privatzing, furthering the means by which the wealthy get richer.
I think we should go an election cycle without congress or an executive brach just to see what would happen.
Most of our government is by now secret and unelected, let's get rid of them too.
Congress is currently a photograph. You see them sitting in their seats. You can count the number of heads. They are a photograph because they just sit there. They do nothing, they are nothing, they accomplish nothing just like a photograph. There are no moving parts. It is void of any dynamics.
It would be more effective to replace congress with an 8 year old kid and one of those "Magic 8 Balls".
If Cindy and Vermont get their way, our Democracy may be on its way to working again.
And Liberal with an attitude
let's give them the longest unparoleable sentences in the highest security prisons.
liberal with an attitude,
The next president needs to unilaterally declare Bush and Cheney enemy combatants, to be held without trial or legal counsel, and forced to suffer through all those procedures which the Bush/Cheney administration deemed "not torture."
Bush and Cheney have committed SO many crimes while in office, it is hard to know where to start. The House could impeach, much like they did to Clinton, but you would never get 67 Senators to vote for conviction. So it is pretty much a waste of time. I think Pelosi should just say that. That we could never get the votes, so why waste our time. That would be a lot more honest.
Currently the point of Congress is to sell the Constitutional rights given to us as citizens, to corporate citizens, and to surrender its granted legislatives powers, to the executive branch. We get the kind of Congress we deserve. After all, we elected them.
Hoa binh
To where doth the Compass Point when our Ship of State is trapped in the Malstrom
since1492,
We get the Congress, and the president, that the kleptocorpocracy determines is in their best interests to give us.
Given the increasing number of members of Congress "retiring", perhaps there is a chance we'll actually get a change there too. Obama needs a fighting chance to get something done once he's President. Having like-minded change agents present wouldn't hurt.
Rubberstamp. Like the Roman Senate. That is all that Congress is good for. Why pay their salaries?
The purpose of Congress is to hand out America's public wealth to corporations in return for bribes.
Impeachable offenses are not just crimes. It's treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdeamors. This means they're all culpable.
They are openly taking bribes. Impeach 'em all!
Good Grief, each day CommonDreams discussions deteriorate further into the written version of adolescent temper tantrums! Reading the comments today I empathize with the frustration everyone feels with our current political climate, how can anyone be pleased with the decline of our national governance... however the tone is not one that illuminates or inspires, there is no food for thought or presentations of possibilities - only slam, grump, whine and bark!
The Congress was intended to be the voice of their constituency. That has changed because each member represents thousands if not hundreds of thousands... and from reading these posts of late, not a lot of Common Dreams are being shared!
I went to Washington DC on environmental business in 2007 and I never saw anyone just sitting around. The place was a madhouse with everyone scheduled to the breaking point and upwards of 200 pieces of legislation competing for their attention each day! Maybe you good readers could weave that into a cohesive whole but I for one could not see how it was humanely possible for a consensus of priorities let alone a clear vision of how to handle them!
A Democracy requires more than lip service, while We the People want our representatives to do our will - paying them 4 times the average middle class earner and thereby absolving ourselves of the tedium of governance. Problem is it doesn't work. Those with the loudest voices, biggest wallets, grandest recreational gambits, and plushest backing are the ones who get their way. My state reps work unceasingly and then the President signs away the substance of their work.
We need to stop Bashing our reps and start reinvesting our own time and energy on local and state levels - not political activists - as community building examples.
Most parents can't even get their kids to sit down at the same time for dinner - why would our Senate/Congress be more effective at containing the will of the Corporatacracy?
Lets elevate the level of these discussions... We all know the national pattern is failing - what common dreams will lead from here?
Excellent article from Sean G. I always look for his columns on Common Dreams.
By the way, in the Nor-easter storm of e-mail, totaling 8000, consists now of mostly favorable reports.
Obviously I don't need to convince y'all of the symbolic value of the indictment in Brattleboro. But we're shooting ourselves in the foot if we prejudge its practical potential. Don't worry that it's not a legal document. The Declaration of Independence wasn't a legal document, either. If the day comes, don't you think a patriotic or progressive lawyer will bend or overlook or reinterpret the technicalities for the sake of national security, which is threatened more by Bush and Cheney than by anything outside our borders? Matters of law are decided not just by statutes, but also by politics, common law and ethics, and such cases are not all abstruse. (For example no one should expect to be convicted for stealing bandages to help the victim of an auto accident.) Hang on for a surprise. If Bush is not impeached, the actual implementation of the indictment will depend less on technicalities and more on the will of the people, and the will of the people grows stronger against Bush every day. Please think about it.
(Kurt Daims)
Bushindictment@gmail.com
Yo Mainstay
Sometimes thats all we have left - whines.
Sometimes we actually move things forward.
And if you really wanna get anywhere, try doing much without getting a political type involved.
Cast your vote tomorrow.
It really is a nightmare in America, a complete travesty of democracy. There are Constitutional Conventions available to the people yet they are rarely mentioned.
Of course, People Power could also move the country forward if only someone or some groups could organize to harness it!
"In e-mail messages, voicemail messages and telephone calls (to Brattleboro officials), outraged people are calling the measure the equivalent of treason and vowing never to visit Vermont" the Associated Press reported.
Who really gives a s$it? If these idiots don't understand the "equivalent of treason" within their own government, why TF would you want them visiting your state?
"TREASON" - Defined by Wesbter's Dictionary: Any betrayal of trust or confidence!....... And that my friends would include the "betrayal" of our government leaders!
The following link is for the intellectually challenged:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=taxonomy/term/17
"The Declaration of Independence, revered as a document but ignored as a guide to action, needs to be read from pulpits and podiums, on street corners and community radio stations throughout the nation. Its words, forgotten for over two centuries, need to become a call to action for the first time since it was read aloud to crowds in the early excited days of the American Revolution: Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and institute new government." - Howard Zinn
Democracy is the voice of the people, bottom-up. If the people of Vermont vote a particular way, it is their elected officials' responsibility to carry out that will.
Indeed, if they vote in favor of impeachment/indictment/arrest/etc. and their officials do NOT abide, then those officials are guilty of treason.
mainstay, sometimes you have to do a lot of jibing when there is a frustratingly slow tailwind, also not everyone is adept at reading the apparent wind from the true wind so there may be some confusion. As soon as we get a favorable shift in wind direction we can all help haul the main sheets in for a close reach on a new course. Meanwhile with all the jibing going on check the backstay.
MPs to vote on new bill that replaces security certificate law
Members of the House of Commons will vote Monday on a proposed bill that would replace Canada's controversial security certificate legislation.
The Supreme Court of Canada struck down the previous legislation, calling the indefinite detention of foreign nationals unconstitutional, and gave Parliament one year to come up with an alternative.
The Liberals have said they will support the crucial vote, which means the bill will likely pass. But given its controversial nature, it could be challenged in court.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/02/03/parliament-bill.html
To see the pre-vote debate (anytime tomorrow)
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/housechamberbusiness/chambersittings.aspx?View=H&Parl=39&Ses=2&Language=E&Mode=1
Mainstay, of those 200 pieces of legislation you mentioned. 196 are dedicating a Post Office and allowing it to bear the name of 'such and such', Agreeing if they should allow a vote for a special whatever, whatever for a team in the NFL, and 'other', which leaves 2 REAL legislative issues that they normally do not have time for because it is the end of the Calender day.
( psssst, no need to use anything but DC, we know where it is)
Vaudree, you always provide us with great info, this one sounds really important for us. Could you give us a blow by blow, FISA/S 2248 and the likes, much telephoning, much keeping up with the 'Winter Soldier II' updates, too much on our plates this week. Please do that for us? Thank You.
So glad to see this article and what it's pointing to. It's very typicle of 'what's going on' around here.. here being the United States of America. We the People can still email, post in forums and blogs, and post on websites like this. The 'stink' of the whole thing is that most of us are aware of what this Bush administration is doing and has done. Even worse, G.W. and Dick are still in power loaughing at us with glee because they are still doing what they want to do, when they want to do it. That feeling on invincability runs through their veins.
God Bless Vermont! In Vermont, they ARE the people so far. I hope their courage and willingness spreads like wildfire. I hope it's 'catchy' and sooner than later. The number of victims has reached epic proportions. For the betterment of this country and of the world, may Vermont get it's way! Go ahead and send me nasty emails.. it shows me you care.
rebelnow - thanks for that post it put a smile on the evening! And point well taken; Discerning apparent from true, and securing fore and aft in a less than perfect sea...
I wonder how the earliest Americans pulled it together to rise for Freedom... with their farms miles apart, no phones, no internet, many without even reading or writing. Perhaps they didn't question their power before trying it?
The people of Vermont are admirable in their joined resolution to use the laws of the land to tie the hands of treason. I do not know if there is still enough honest law to trust - but I see their efforts as a rallying place. I too hope it is contagious so that at every caucus and town meeting this year someone brings it up - and people begin to realize how many of us there are who believe that our nation is our people, not our leaders.
I've wondered for a while just exactly what the purpose of threatening a presidential veto is, given that the current president can just add a signing statement to whatever comes his way and change it into something more to his liking.
It adds a whole new meaning to bi-partisanship, doesn't it? Now when Democrats hammer out compromises with their Republican colleagues in the legislature and manage to get something passed, these very same compromises can get undone by an unaccountable Executive!
Thanks for working with us, chumps!
Our Congress. Butt boys of MIC.
Mainstay,
In your 12:21am post your sentiments are excellent but your history is horrid.
The Revolution, which I assume you're attempting to allude to in your second paragraph was hardly conducted by the "earliest Americans", 1776 is a century after folks began to think of themselves as American.
And "Freedom" is a bullshit myth for children, the Revolution was about Liberty and Self-Determination, and Representation, and Rights, all concrete Social concepts.
And pre-industrial farms are typically NOT widely spaced, "miles apart", but centered around coherent Villages. After the Agitations in Boston and other large cities, fighting finally erupted at Lexington and Concord, just outside, and then into the village Green, not in some distant countryside.
As for "phones...(and) internet", who the hell gave you the idea these things are beneficial to the kind of Human Organization necessary to take on Empire? Communication over Distance is Communication between the Isolated.
And as for the "reading and writing" thing, this is what earned your post my scorn. Whatever gave you the idea that the technology of the written word was somehow required to assert one's human rights?
The facts are that the People then were simply more Awake then they are now, and their general skill with firearms, their familiarity with the terrain, and the Oppressor's great distance from the Field, gave them a fighting chance, while skilled negotiation with the Oppressor's Traditional Enemy, sealed the deal with Naval Power and General-ship.
That Situation really has little bearing on the present one.
It may be time to write off the "American" Nation-State of Ideals and Democracy, as a loss.
It may be time to work with what we truly have, and let reality wither a few of our more dream-like "beliefs" about ourselves.
But remember to have FUN. This ride is MEANT to be fun.
-matti.
"Seems our neighbors in the northeast have grown over-weary of the current White House regime treating the Constitution and the laws enacted by The People's representatives like an optional menu."
The current federal regime — all branches — is guided less by the Constitution than by Orwell's "1984."
Pity more folks outside of Vermont haven't read either.
Signing statements are the limitless credit card of this presidency. They can spend with impunity, and don't have to pay the tab.
If we don't impeach this President, we will have infected the Constitution with a possibly fatal disease.
"kurtdaims February 4th, 2008 6:40 pm
Obviously I don't need to convince y'all of the symbolic value of the indictment in Brattleboro. If the day comes, don't you think a patriotic or progressive lawyer will bend or overlook or reinterpret the technicalities for the sake of national security, which is threatened more by Bush and Cheney than by anything outside our borders?"
Well stated Kurtdaims,and I will add this: "Perhaps the most insidious blowback from war is that it weakens freedom and the rule of law inside the country waging it." James Madison was typically prescient in warning of this: "No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare;" and If Tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."